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Birds of a feather …

Natural History, July-August, 2004

Right: they flock together. No question, animals live in groups, and people have been naming the groups for nearly as long as they've been naming the animals themselves: herd of elephants, pack of dogs, school of fish.

That suggests a word-matching puzzle. But forget herd, pack, or school--no challenge there. We've assembled some names below for groups of animals that, unless you've been training for crossword tournaments recently, will seem decidedly odd. Yet most of them can claim an ancient pedigree, having captured the fancy of list makers as far back as the fifteenth century. Other names have a basis in the animals' behavior.

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So here's a twist on the usual matching game: instead of pairing a collective noun with an animals' name, match the group name to the photograph of the animals to which the name corresponds.

Swarm

Crash

Kindle

Knot

Unkindness

Parliament

Army

Convocation

Smack

Singular

Pod

Romp

Gaggle

Pride

[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED]

Answers to "Birds of a Feather.. ," puzzle (page 71):

F--Swarm of eels

D--Crash of rhinoceroses

N--Kindle of kittens

B--Knot of toads

I--Unkindness of ravens

H--Parliament of owls

C--Army of caterpillars

M--Convocation of eagles

L--Smack of Jellyfish

K--Singular of boars

J--Pod of sea lions

A--Romp of otters

E--Gaggle of geese

G--Pride of lions

Birds of a feather …

Natural History, July-August, 2004

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